Exhortation to the Greeks 2.14

Greek text · Stählin 1:12–13

Ἤδη δέ, καὶ γὰρ καιρός, αὐτὰ ὑμῶν τὰ ὄργια ἐξελέγξω ἀπάτης καὶ τερατείας ἔμπλεα. καὶ εἰ μεμύησθε, ἐπιγελάσεσθε μᾶλλον τοῖς μύθοις ὑμῶν τούτοις τοῖς τιμωμένοις. ἀγορεύσω δὲ ἀναφανδὸν τὰ κεκρυμμένα, οὐκ αἰδούμενος λέγειν ἃ προσκυνεῖν οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε. ἡ μὲν οὖν »ἀφρογενής« τε καὶ »κυπρογενής«, ἡ Κινύρᾳ φίλη (τὴν Ἀφροδίτην λέγω, τὴν »φιλομηδέα, ὅτι μηδέων ἐξεφαάνθη,« μηδέων ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποκεκομμένων Οὐρανοῦ, τῶν λάγνων, τῶν μετὰ τὴν τομὴν τὸ κῦμα βεβιασμένων), ὡς ἀσελγῶν ὑμῖν μορίων ἄξιος [Ἀφροδίτη] γίνεται καρπός, ἐν ταῖς τελεταῖς ταύτης τῆς πελαγίας ἡδονῆς τεκμήριον τῆς γονῆς ἁλῶν χόνδρος καὶ φαλλὸς τοῖς μυουμένοις τὴν τέχνην τὴν μοιχικὴν ἐπιδίδοται· νόμισμα δὲ εἰσφέρουσιν αὐτῇ οἱ

English · Claude translation

Now, for it is time, I will prove that your orgies themselves are full of deceit and marvels. And if you have been initiated, you will laugh all the more at these myths of yours that are held in honor. I will proclaim openly what is hidden, not ashamed to say what you are not ashamed to worship. The “foam-born,” the “Cyprus-born,” the darling of Cinyras (I mean Aphrodite, “lover of genitals, because she sprang from the genitals,” those genitals cut off from Uranus, the lustful ones that, after the cutting, violated the wave): see how fitting a fruit of lewd members [Aphrodite] is born to you! In the rites of this pleasure born of the sea, as a token of her birth, a lump of salt and a phallus are given to those initiated into the art of adultery; and the initiates bring her a coin …

About this passage

Source

Stählin 1:12–13 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.

Extrabiblical texts

Hesiod, Theog. 195–200 (Hesiod, Theogony) · quotation, high confidence

Notes

Translation notes

The epithets are from Hesiod, Theogony 195–200. The bracketed name is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted).
The sentence continues in the next section.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): άνθη, « → άνθη,«.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/14/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 2.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/2/14/).